Reality
by Omit Unnecessary Words
Summary: One year after the final Sorceress War, rogue factions pop up all over Galbadia, killing as they see fit, and Rinoa has strange dreams in which her world falls apart around her. . . Please review, feedback is much appreciated, thank you! Oh, and spoilers
1. Rest

**Rest

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Just a small note beforehand. Quotes encased in parentheses, like this (""), indicate thoughts.

Oh, and, for a disclaimer, I don't own Final Fantasy VIII, any of its characters, or any trademarks of Square Enix.

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". . . Squall, report to the bridge!"

". . . Commander Leonhart, report to the bridge at once!"

The intercom's demand fell on deaf ears. In the hall, some students laughed about how the "dutiful" Squall Leonhart must be sleeping in, but most continued to go about their business. Balamb Garden had been quiet for these last few days, so why shouldn't the Commander have some rest? The last year had been spent assisting Esthar and Trabia in their relief efforts after the short-lived reign of Ultimecia and her puppets in other times, and the destruction was terrible to behold. In Esthar, bodies were still being hauled from the ruins of fallen skyscrapers, and mass graves extended far beyond the borders of the main city. In Trabia, people were found either freezing or frozen after the harsh winter. To add to the problem, General Caraway had ascended to the title of "President" Caraway, and seemed to favor an expansionistic policy. Dollet was under the control of Galbadia and newly liberated Timber was besieged. SeeD's hands were full elsewhere.

In the bridge of Balamb Garden, Quistis, Nida, Xu, and Rinoa paced about, waiting for Squall. These times had been tough for the Commander; he shined in wartime management, but couldn't handle domestic situations. Quistis and Xu assisted him as much as was possible, but Squall needed something bigger to do than dig up bodies and haul ruined buildings. The only real support he had was Rinoa. Throughout much of the day, Squall would be with the "orphanage group" and Rinoa, handling the presented problem as well as possible, but during spare time, he only had eyes for Rinoa.

Rinoa paused for a moment. Perhaps Squall deserved a day of rest.

"Hey," Rinoa said, "I'm gonna go down and check on Squall."

Quistis nodded, and Rinoa stepped on the lift and pushed the "1F" button on the control panel. The weary elevator gave a begrudging, rusty grunt as it slid downward. The Garden was in dire need of maintenance. The tired lift came to a slow stop, and Rinoa stepped out into a tired Garden. Perhaps everyone deserved some rest.

Squall had been increasingly tired every day, yet he continued to awaken at 6:00 every morning. Now, it was 8:30. Why should he sleep in today, and break his routine?

As Rinoa turned to the hall to the dormitories, a chill ran down her spine. The dormitory hall was empty, cold, and dark. She dismissed the chill, and stepped into the entangled web of halls leading to the Commander's chambers.

At last, Rinoa found Squall's room. She typed in a code that she had spied Squall entering earlier, "191721." The door started to open, but stopped, jammed by something. This aroused Rinoa's suspicions. Had something happened to Squall? Through the crack in the door that had been opened, all that could be seen was a section of wall. As Rinoa peeked in, her eyes widened and she gasped. Blood was spilled on the walls. Rinoa frantically used her magic to break the door down, and began to feel her world falling apart around her. Squall was laid out on the ground, on his side, in a pool of blood, with a gaping gash in his throat and a deep impact in his head. A chest of drawers was knocked over, and documents were scattered on the floor, soaking up blood. Rinoa threw herself on Squall, tears beading up in her eyes, and slowly cradled his head in her arms.

The alarm clock rang. Rinoa's eyes snapped open and she stared at the light blue ceiling of her own dorm room. She glanced at the alarm clock, and it read 6:00 A.M.. Rinoa sighed and settled back into bed, shivering. What a dream. . .

"Yo, Rinoa! News!" cried Zell from outside of Rinoa's door.

Rinoa's eyes snapped open again. What if something _had_ happened to Squall? She needed to see him; she needed to see that he was okay. Rinoa leapt out of her bed, quickly dressed, and dashed out toward the bridge, leaving Zell behind.

"Rinoa! Where are you. . . Ah, why the hell am I _always_ the messenger around here! Rinoa, meet Squall at the bridge!"

Rinoa sprinted into the open hallway, now sparsely populated with students. Even though she realized how irrationally she was thinking, Rinoa couldn't let go of the last image that she had seen in that dream - Squall dead, in her arms. She had to see Squall.

Rinoa stepped into the elevator alongside Zell, who was gasping for breath. Rinoa felt calmer now, after having learned that Squall was alive and well for sure, and attempted at a relaxing conversation.

"Why didn't Squall just use the intercom system?" Rinoa inquired.

"I dunno. He probably just felt like torturing me. Man, all this running on a full stomach hurts!" Zell replied.

"Finally got the hot dogs?" Rinoa responded, stifling a laugh.

"Oh yeah! They were _awesome_!" Zell said, beginning to box at air in the cramped elevator.

A resounding _ding _sound filled the elevator, and the doors opened into the Headmaster's office. Squall stood at the back, saluting Zell and Rinoa as they entered the musty room. Old ferns and bonsais lined the walls alongside portraits of various SeeDs of Cid's choice. Clouds of dust still arose from the ancient red carpet. Zell awkwardly saluted along with Quistis and Selphie, who were standing at the sides. Rinoa glanced about, then proceeded to salute, forgetting the formality of the situation.

("I hate these formalities, but protocol is protocol,") Squall thought to himself, relaxing from his salute. He stared awkwardly at the others, still saluting, then, with a small jump at forgetting his own position, stated, "At ease."

As the others relaxed after an extended salute, Squall called Xu down from the bridge. Xu stepped off of the lift and saluted, thus forcing the crew to repeat the maneuver.

"At ease," Xu said. "Now, I'm here to brief you on a serious mission in Galbadia. You've all heard about the rebel factions forming, right?"

Rinoa remembered reports she had seen of the bombings of Galbadian soldier caravans. These rebels weren't like the Forest Owls. These particular rebels could be better defined as anarchists tearing up Galbadian government by the roots. They didn't care whether their victims were military or civilian, as long as they were Galbadian.

"Well," Xu continued, "we've gathered reports of one of them getting their hands on high-class Esthar missiles, fresh from the laboratories, and they're being aimed at Deling City. I'm sure our mission is becoming clear to all of you."

Everyone nodded, and Quistis spoke up. "Even if we eliminate the current threat, what of the distributors of these missiles?"

"That'll come later," Xu replied. "For now, though, we need to focus on the problem in front of us. I have good news and bad news about this."

"First the good news," Squall continued. "We're receiving assistance from Galbadia Garden."

"Oh!" Selphie piped up. "Will we see Irvy? C'mon, c'mon!"

"Well," Xu responded, "that's the bad news. Irvine Kinneas is our assistance."

"Oh, hell. . ." Zell said, punching the floor.

"Okay," Xu interrupted, "all quarrels aside, we needed a sharpshooter for this, and he was up for the job. Now, for our transportation, you'll just have to take a train to Timber to get started. Quistis has already been filled in on everything, and she'll describe our plan on the way."

Xu bowed, saluted, and departed for the bridge as Quistis saluted.

"Hmm. . . Assemble at the front gate at 1500 hours. You're free until then," Quistis said.

"So now we _all _have to get in this elevator?" Zell complained.

"Well, if it's any comfort, I'll be stuck up here with the paperwork," Squall remarked.

"Oh, come on, you don't have to do all of that! Come on down with us!" Rinoa said.

("I wish.")

"The paperwork's got to get done," Squall said.

Quistis stepped forward to the desk that Squall was now seated at. "I'll take care of that for now, and you can spend time with Rinoa."

Rinoa's eyes lit up as she said, "Come on, Squall!"

("I don't wanna push my burden on anyone else.")

"No, I'll take care of it," Squall replied.

Rinoa sighed, turned around, and walked away toward the elevator dejectedly. As she stepped toward it, the door opened, revealing Irvine Kinneas.

"Come on, why so down? Let me cheer you up," Irvine said as he invited Rinoa into the elevator and guided it down to the first floor.

"What was _that_ all about?" Zell shouted.

"Irvy!" Selphie yelled, waiting for the elevator to come back up.

Quistis sighed. "You're such an idiot about women, Squall."

"Whatever."

The hallways in Balamb Garden were like a home to Irvine, where he paced the hallway, having romantic conversations with the women of his choice. Today, however, he was going to give relationship advice to Rinoa.

"You're complaining that he doesn't notice you?" Irvine asked. "He _totally_ notices you, but he's just too awkward to try and engage in a casual conversation with you. Squall's just embarrassed, that's all."

"You really think so?" Rinoa replied. "Maybe I should go up there and talk to him. It's just so embarrassing though, you know. . ."

"See, both of you have got the same problem. You're just too embarrassed to talk to each other. Go on, try going up to the office and talking to him!"

Rinoa looked up at Irvine. "What would we talk about, though?"

"Oh, anything," Irvine responded, with a roguish look on his face. "Just keep Squall away from his work, that's all."

"It could be worth a try. . . Thanks, Irvine! Now you go meet up with Selphie, she's been wanting to see you!"

Rinoa walked to the elevator just in time for Zell, Quistis, Xu, and Selphie to exit from it.

"Where ya goin', Rinoa?" Zell asked.

"Oh, I'm just gonna talk to Squall, and try to get him away from his work for a second," Rinoa replied.

"Oh, well, good luck with that. He doesn't like to be interrupted," Zell said.

She got into the elevator and punched in, "3F." As the elevator squealed upward, Rinoa leaned against the wall and wearily closed her eyes. The elevator was taking longer than usual.

Finally, the elevator stopped, and the door opened to an eerily empty office. Rinoa hesitantly stepped out, only to hear the click of a rifle at her side. She was surrounded by riflemen. Rinoa froze as Seifer was brought out at gunpoint, gagged and struggling.

("Why is _he_ here? Why is everyone here!")

Rinoa dashed out to help Seifer, but was held back by the arms of two of the men. She tried to shout out, but found that she could not. She tried to cast magic, but felt the shocking numbness of the absence of it.

A man in unknown military regalia stood behind Seifer. The man was an intimidating sight indeed, in a large, flowing, red coat, and his face was shrouded by the dim light of sunrise. He silently raised his arm, and dropped it. Seifer's eyes widened, and his struggles intensified. A single gunshot rang out, and the once white coat of Seifer Almasy was stained scarlet. The struggles stopped as the still form of Seifer turned the already red carpets a dismal shade of crimson. Rinoa broke free and ran to Seifer's side. A man aimed his rifle at Rinoa, the mysterious officer nodded, and the rifleman pulled the trigger. A flash of pain, a sight of blood, then deep, enveloping, welcoming darkness embraced Rinoa.

Rinoa awakened to the blinding light of the infirmary window. There was no gunshot wound, only ice packed down on her forehead.

"We really do need more ventilation in Garden, you know. In the heat of the summer, lots of students have passed out," stated a distant voice. Rinoa shielded her eyes from the light as Dr. Kadowaki opened the curtain. "I'm glad to see you're okay. Oh, and there's another person who's been bugging me for a while who I'm sure will also be glad you're okay."

Dr. Kadowaki opened the door. "She's just fine; come on in and pay her a visit. Oh, you can thank me later for the card game tips."

". . . Whatever."

Rinoa smiled as Squall stepped into the infirmary room and sat on the bench beside her awkwardly.

". . . You look pale," Squall simply stated.

("Wow, he's hard to have a conversation with.")

". . . Are you gonna be okay for the mission?" Squall asked.

"Yeah, I think."

". . . Listen, um. . . What's Seifer been doing?" Rinoa inquired.

"I dunno. He sort of disappeared after everything with Ultimecia. Why do you ask?"  
"Oh, I just had a dream about him."

". . . Okay."

"Oh, come on, Squall!" Rinoa insisted. "Don't you wanna talk about anything?"

". . . Not really."

"Well, um. . . What's on your mind?"

"Nothing, really."

"So," Rinoa said, "I overheard Dr. Kadowaki talking to you about that Triple Triad card game. Care to teach me how to play?"

". . . It's complicated, but I guess so."

("What does she want from me?")

Rinoa sat up, rummaging about in her pocket until she drew five cards.

"Okay, let's see those cards," Squall said. Scanning over them quickly, he said, "You've got a decent hand here. You can do something with the Vysage, Adamantoise, Iron Giant, and Malboro cards, but this Fastitocalon-F has got to go. Here, let me replace it with one of my own cards, an Elnoyle."

"Oh, thanks!" Rinoa said.

"Don't worry about it. Over time, you'll probably end up getting better cards. In the meantime, the best way to get better is to practice. I personally enjoy playing with the 'Open,' 'Diff.,' 'Same,' and 'Plus' rules. Do you understand all of those?"

Rinoa thought for a moment and said, "Well, I sorta get 'Diff.' and 'Same,' but what about 'Plus?'"

Squall sighed and hunched over, arranging some of his cards. "Okay, I've got these three cards arranged here in an 'L' shape. You see how the top number on the middle card and the bottom number of the top card add up to '9,' which is also the sum of the right number of the middle card and the left number of the right-hand card? In this case, my opponent has the outer two cards and I just placed the middle card, so I flip them. Got it?"

"Um. . . Yeah, I think so," Rinoa replied. Slowly, a grin lit up her face. "Care to play a game?"

". . . Sure."

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Thanks for reading, and please review! I appreciate constructive criticism, but please don't criticize with no reason! 


	2. Wavelengths

**Wavelengths

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A/N: I just felt like adding a lighter chapter to the mix before bad, unfortunate things started to happen. Happy reading and please offer a review!

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"Hmm. . . You're getting too good for me," Squall remarked. "You're a really fast learner, you know?"

Rinoa looked up, across the table that Dr. Kadowaki had placed for card-playing, at Squall. "A compliment from you?"

("Why does she always have to be like this when I try to compliment her?")

"Forget it."

Squall looked up at the clock. The digital display read, "13:00." Squall slowly gathered his cards and stood up.

"I've got some work to do before we leave. If you still want to play cards, Dr. Kadowaki's pretty good-"

"Taught him everything he knows!" Dr. Kadowaki interrupted.

Squall sighed. "Well, anyway, I'll be in the 3F office if you need me."

Squall got up from the hospital bench and sauntered away. Dr. Kadowaki yelled after him, "Come back again soon, you hear? I don't have anyone to play cards with!"

Rinoa stood up from her infirmary bed, assuring Dr. Kadowaki that she was fine, then stepped into the hall. She still felt strangely disconnected from the studentry as a whole, who seemed to exist on a different wavelength from her. The students at Balamb Garden seemed to exist in another world - a world in which war and death were commonplace and merely part of the studies. Rinoa couldn't relate to either, especially when the pace picked up and they all left her behind in the field of battle.

Rinoa had already watched some groups leave for missions and come back one person short. This was her greatest fear these days. What if Squall, Zell, Quistis, and Selphie left on a mission, and one of them wasn't there when they came back? Rinoa knew that she couldn't handle that kind of pressure, yet that pressure was what most of Garden thrived on. The only two real, concrete connections that she had with Garden were Squall and the newly galvanized Garden Festival Committee, which she was now a participating member in, but neither of those connections were very strong, Rinoa had to admit to herself. The Garden Festival was a lost cause of sorts, because only Selphie and a few other individuals were incredibly devoted to it, and Squall was too afraid to make a concrete bond with someone. The only times they had really forged their relationship together were in space and at the orphanage. She was actually afraid to return to Timber, because she might have ended up rejoining the Forest Owls with Watts and Zone, and leaving her new life at Garden behind.

Now, however, a more pressing problem was presented to her. What was she going to do for two hours before meeting the crew at the front gate?

"Rinoa!" A familiar voice yelled. Rinoa looked behind her to see Selphie waving to her.

"Where's Irvine?" Rinoa inquired.

"Oh, he wandered off. Said something about Squall needing his help. Sometimes I don't get him. . ." Selphie sighed. "But anyway, the Garden Festival needs _your_ help! Come on to the quad!"

"Okay," Rinoa said, glad to have something to do, "So what's the problem?"

"_Everything_! The entire stage collapsed when we were decorating it earlier! I knew we shouldn't have asked those FH workers to help!"

"So. . . We're gonna have to rebuild it?" Rinoa asked. She had wanted something to do, but this was more than she had bargained for.

"Of course! Come on, we have to go to the quad and do what we can with the time we have!"

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Irvine Kinneas stepped into the elevator and pressed, "3F." As the elevator grunted to a start, Irvine leaned against the wall, formulating his plans to get Squall closer to Rinoa. The problem was that Squall always avoided getting close to anyone, and when forced into a situation, became very defensive. Irvine just needed to find some way to get Squall out of his shell, and that was no mean feat.

The elevator gave a _ding_, and the door opened. Squall looked up irritably from his desk toward the terrible sound that obstructed his work as Irvine stepped out of the elevator and pulled up a chair on the other side of the desk.

". . . What is it?"

Irvine looked mock-seriously at Squall from across the desk and said, "You need to spend more time with Rinoa."

"Then why don't you do that? I have work to do."

Irvine sighed slowly. "You haven't changed a bit, have you? Rinoa needs you, you know? She never really feels as if she has friends in Garden. Remember what she said back at Trabia Garden last year, about getting left behind in battle? And no, don't blame the GF. Well, everybody at Garden is the same way. In the heat of battle, _everyone_ leaves Rinoa behind, and it hurts her. You're the only one she can really talk to and confide in here. Come on, let me take the paperwork."

Squall looked back down at the paperwork.

"I can guess what you're thinking," Irvine said, "You're thinking, 'I don't wanna place my burden on anyone else.'" Irvine stood up, looking down at the stack of papers on Squall's desk, and the message that he was typing on his computer.

"What are you doing, anyway? Coming up with creative ways to deny people assistance from SeeD?"

". . . That about sums it up."

Irvine extended his hand toward Squall. "That sounds like fun. Let me help you up, and I'll take over from here for the next couple of hours. You go out and talk to Rinoa."

". . . Sure," Squall said, getting up without the help of Irvine's hand. "Just don't mess things up, okay?"

"Sure thing! It'll be no problem at all!"

". . . _You're welcome_!" Irvine yelled after Squall. The faux-cowboy sighed. It was like talking to a wall. . .

Squall stepped into the elevator, checking the time on his way out. It was 1:12. How was he going to spend almost two hours with Rinoa? Squall relaxed, assuring himself that something was going to come up to consume time. The elevator made its familiar screech as it began to slide down toward the first floor. Something really needed to be done with that elevator. If nothing else, Squall himself would get out and grease the elevator cable. If nothing was done, the elevator would probably fall sometime, and that would put Squall up to his ears in paperwork. The elevator _ding_ed open and Squall stepped into the open hall.

("I hate that noise. . .")

Squall looked about in the hall, wondering where Rinoa could have gone.

("I guess the first place to check would be the Infirmary.")

Squall paced down the hall, deftly deflecting greetings. If there was one thing Squall Leonhart had become skilled at over the years, it was ignoring people. He hated it, but his goal was to finish his life in Garden and move on without developing any bonds with people to be broken. Move on, though? To what? What did he have outside of Garden? Squall dismissed those thoughts, as in his opinion, they only interfered with his work, and continued through the large, circular, hub-like hallway. He turned down the hall to the Infirmary and was greeted by Dr. Kadowaki.

"Come to play more cards, have you, Commander?"

Squall bluntly responded with, "Did Rinoa leave?"

"Well, that's a nice way to greet someone."

Squall performed an all-too familiar motion with his right hip jutting out to the side and his arms limp at his sides, and muttered, "Whatever."

Dr. Kadowaki began to set about organizing various clutter, and said, "I guess there isn't time for cards anyway. If you're looking for Rinoa, she left with that Selphie girl."

("Damn. I do _not_ wanna get mixed up in that Festival.")

"Okay, thanks," Squall replied as he walked away.

("I guess I don't have a choice, though. It's time to head to the quad. . . I wish I could just go to the Directory, click on the place that I want to go to, and pop up there.")

Squall stepped out into the quad area, which was still not fully repaired from the encounter with Galbadia Garden. Selphie dashed out to meet him, shouting, "Hey, Squall, you're just in time to help rebuild the stage!"

("Oh, Hyne, no. . .")

Squall put his hand to his forehead and breathed a deep sigh. ". . . I don't have a choice, do I? Sure."

"Okay!" Selphie shouted. "What can you do. . . Oh, I know! You can help to fill in the motorcycle tracks from those Galbadians!"

"Okay," Squall said as he saluted and strolled down the stairs toward the stage, where he spied Rinoa ineptly wielding a shovel, attempting to fill in motorcycle tracks.

("Damn it, they set me up for this.")

Squall stealthily stepped over to Rinoa's position, grabbed a shovel from a wall to the side, and stepped to the side of Rinoa.

"Here, you use it like this," Squall said, demonstrating the correct method to handling a spoon-like digging utensil.

Rinoa looked up at Squall, surprised. "Wow, you never leave your paperwork! What brings you down here?"

("I feel like she's mocking me.")

"Irvine's picking up the slack for now, so I decided to help out down here. Is something wrong with that?"

Rinoa was slightly flustered by this response. "Oh, nothing at all! It's great that you're helping out!"

("Why does this always have to happen?")

An awkward silence ensued as Squall and Rinoa commenced digging.

". . . Thank you," Rinoa said. "You know. . . For helping out here."

Squall leaned forward and put his hand to his forehead.

("How am I supposed to respond to that? I always feel so awkward whenever someone compliments me. It kind of discourages me from helping out. . .")

"I can tell you're thinking," Rinoa said. "Tell me what's on your mind. It'll be good for you."

". . . It's nothing," Squall replied bluntly. "Don't worry about it."

Rinoa continued to dig up dirt and fill in holes, determined to keep her silence.

("Why does he always close up like that? I hate it when he starts thinking. . .")

"Hey! Wanna help rebuild the stage for the Garden Festival?" Selphie's voice yelled out loudly.

"Uh, well, I. . . I, um, just remembered. . . Something, you know? Oh, damn it! I hate that Raijin guy! But, hey, I gotta go now!" another voice rang.

Rinoa looked up as Selphie dashed clumsily to the workplace.

"I can't _ever_ get Zell to help out with the Garden Festival! I don't get it!" Selphie said.

("I definitely get it,") Squall thought to himself.

As Squall looked back toward the hallways, he spied a vague silhouette of Zell running away in the distance. One could always tell Zell by his hair, even from a great distance. During Master NORG's shadowy reign of Balamb Garden, Zell had received many warnings about his radical hairstyle. Upon one occasion three years ago, the Garden faculty had finally put their collective foot down, and had his head shaved in order to make an example to students who might be following the trend that Zell had started. To make matters worse, Zell arrived the day after wearing an embellished cowboy hat much like Irvine's, and the faculty promptly confiscated it, leaving Zell's head exposed, much to his humiliation. Zell was always an outlaw in the eyes of the faculty, armed with long, baggy shorts, drastically overdone hair, and tattoos lining the sides of his face.

Now, Zell ran down the hall in an effort to escape the Garden Festival. He didn't have anything else to pass time with, but there was _no way_ he was going to be spending his free time working on something that he didn't especially care about. Rather, he sprinted away to the Training Center after checking his Junctions.

("Let's see. . . Carbuncle, Cerberus, Diablos, and Doomtrain,") Zell thought to himself as he mentally linked himself with the Guardian Forces.

("_What do you require from me?_") Doomtrain telepathically said to Zell.

("Junction Drain to Status Attack, and Blind, Bio, Death, and Berserk to Status Defense. Oh, and I need Blizzaga on Elemental Attack, and Firaga, Flare, Thundaga, and Quake on Elemental Defense.")

A chilling sensation that Zell was accustomed to rushed through his body as the GF used its powers to imbue Zell with para-magic. The one greatest breakthrough that Dr. Odine in Esthar had inspired was the application of the powers of the GF to create para-magic, some of which could rival the power of a sorceress of such terror as Adel.

After receiving a grant to study magic, Dr. Odine set forth to subdue a GF - Doomtrain, in particular. After successfully defeating it in battle, thanks to highly advanced weaponry, Dr. Odine was shocked to hear a voice in his mind separate from his own.

("_You have defeated me in combat. My powers are now yours._")

Dr. Odine returned to his laboratory, too hurried even to report his findings to his associates. Through weeks of experimenting, holed up in his laboratory, refusing to meet with anybody, he discovered the secret to drawing magic from monsters. It was not the same as a sorceress's magic, but it had many of the same qualities. Dr. Odine had desired to name this new power "pseudo-magic," but the general public, once they learned of it, oddly began to call it "para-magic," much to the dismay of Dr. Odine.

After the breakthrough of para-magic, however, the sorceress Adel outlawed research in such realms that could prove disastrous to her dictatorship over Esthar. Dr. Odine was forced to seal away Doomtrain in a ring, and return it to the place where it was discovered, Tear's Point. Dr. Odine, though, placed a key in the ring to unseal it when exposed to the proper conditions, so that he may someday return in order to research the GF's powers.

Now that Adel was sealed away, Dr. Odine and many contemporaries boldly set forth where no scientist had gone before - the exciting new realm of Guardian Force and para-magic research. Many varieties of para-magic were discovered and classified into groups: Elemental, which was further subcategorized into Fire, Ice, Thunder, Earth, Poison, Wind, Water, and Holy, Life and Recovery, Time and Space, Status, Support, and Forbidden, which was declared illegal for use by the general public. Most spells were classified as Low-, Mid-, and High-level magic depending on their difficulty to obtain and their effectiveness in combat. Also, the GF was used to drastically further chemistry through Refinement abilities, and through the abilities of select GFs, certain monsters could also be converted to cards, which could be further refined into many rare substances. This turned monster hunting into a profitable career, and many freelance fighters roamed the lands Carding monsters and selling the products.

Now, at Balamb Garden, the Guardian Force was a key tool in combat, despite it's draining effects upon the user's memory. Thus far, this impediment was impenetrable to scientists such as Dr. Odine, and the only tool that could help to prevent memory loss was a studiously kept journal. Due to the efforts of people such as Selphie who were determined to keep their pasts alive, a writing class was part of the required curriculum at Garden.

Zell arrived at the conspicuous green stripe leading down the pathway to the Training Center, and began to randomly hop about, boxing the air around him. Confident that he could even challenge a T-Rexaur, he jogged in place momentarily, then ran into the heart of the metal-plated forest.

The jungle inside of the Training Center was quite a surreal experience. Large steel plates were haphazardly tossed amidst gargantuan trees that stood like silent guardians of the monsters waiting inside of the forest. No deaths had been recorded inside of the Training Center thanks to a dutiful and persistent security team, but many illnesses had been caused by the venoms of the malicious carnivorous plants, the Grats, and several injuries had been incurred by the mighty king of the realm, the T-Rexaur.

Zell glanced about confidently, feeling incredible Ultima magic pulsing through his fists. Forbidden magic was allowed to any sort of military, and Balamb Garden was no exception. Few students, however, had the means to utilize this magic. Meteor spells could only be drawn from very rare draw points, along with certain monsters of incredible power, and the only two known ways of acquiring the Ultima spell were the Elnoyles that were recently extinguished permanently from Esthar and a single draw point that the mysterious Shumi tribe had monopolized, charging outrageous fees for a single Draw. The orphanage group, as well as Rinoa, though, had perused the abandoned Deep Sea Research Center upon obtaining the Ragnarok, and encountered not only the lethal GF Bahamut in its depths, but the monstrous Ultima Weapon, bearing not only huge stores of Ultima magic, but the most powerful GF discovered to date, Eden. The entire group drew hundreds of Ultima spells for use in the battles against Adel and Ultimecia, and this made them one of the most elite SeeD teams in Garden.

Zell jumped slightly as he heard a noise in the distance, and turned toward it. All that could be seen was vegetation, but Zell wouldn't let himself be fooled. At a closer glance, a trio of Grats could be seen approaching slowly. Zell rushed into the forest to meet them, eager to test the power of his new fighting tools, entitled Ehrgeiz. Dodging flying vines with Tornado magic, Zell delivered a brutal punch forged with the raw strength of Ultima, the frozen chill of Blizzaga, and the revitalizing effects of Drain to one of the Grats, using the enfeebling yet empowering strength of Diablos's Darkside technique, effectively demolishing the creature. Zell muttered to himself, "Too easy!"

Suddenly, the loud roar of a T-Rexaur rang out. Zell, wondering if he had time to fight, checked his watch, and it read 3:11 P.M..

"Damn! I guess this'll have to wait. Sleep!" Zell shouted as he effectively incapacitated the monster and sprinted away.

* * *

At the front gate, Squall, Selphie, Quistis, Rinoa, and Irvine stood and paced about, waiting for Zell.

"He's fourteen minutes late. Should I look around for him?" Rinoa asked.

Quistis shook her head. "Knowing Zell, he could be anywhere right now. If you left looking for him, chances are he'd show up here and you'd still be searching."

A voice rang out in the distance. "Yo! Sorry I'm late!"

Zell dashed to the front gate, where the group stood waiting and the Garden car was parked, and stopped to take several gasping breaths.

"Just get in the car," Squall said.

"How are we gonna fit six people in this thing?" Zell asked.

Selphie glanced at Zell and replied, "We could always tie someone to the top of the car!"

Zell took a step back away from Selphie. "Woah, no way! Count me out!"

"We'll just have to squeeze in," Quistis remarked. "Let's get moving."

Irvine glanced at Quistis and Selphie, and said, "Okay, you two get on either side of me, right?"

"How about the girls get on one side and the guys sit on the other?" Quistis replied, much to Irvine's dismay.

"Let's just go," Squall said, climbing into the driver's seat.

"Oh, come _on_! Why do you get to sit alone, with all that room, man?" Zell complained, readying himself to begin punching the air.

"We don't have all day," Squall said, beginning to become irritated. By now, Zell was the only one outside of the car, and realizing that, he climbed in alongside Irvine as the car sped toward Balamb.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed reading, and I hope I have everything accurate from the game and all of the characters pretty much accurately portrayed! I also hope that I didn't digress too terribly much. . . Please review, and thanks for reading! 


	3. Dreams

**Dreams**

The Garden car sped down the long, winding roads toward Balamb underneath the threatening cloak of rain clouds that hung like a curtain in front of the sun, darkening the path ahead.

"Hmm. . . Those clouds are looking ominous. It could get to rain," Quistis commented.

"Yo, Squall! If you don't think you can drive in the rain, I can take over for you! I'm good at that kind of thing!" Zell shouted to Squall, meriting no response. After a short silence, Zell piped up again. "C'mon, man! I just wanna drive the car for a few minutes!"

". . . I wouldn't trust you in the driver's seat of a car, Zell," Selphie said.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean!" Zell replied, slightly irked. He stood up in the small car and began to box at the air, but was quickly subdued as Irvine grabbed his arm and pulled him down.

"It's too small in here without you hopping around," Irvine said.

Irvine shot a glance at Rinoa, who was seemingly staring into nowhere, obviously preoccupied by something.

"Why the long face, Rinoa?" Irvine inquired.

Rinoa looked over at Irvine, looking startled. "I-It's nothing."

"You need to work on pretending not to be preoccupied," Quistis said with a very characteristic chuckle, identical to her response upon predicting Squall's thoughts. "But. . . If you don't want to talk about it, I guess I won't ask."

Rinoa looked down at the floor of the car, lost in thought. The truth of the matter was that she was afraid. She was afraid of these dreams that she'd been having recently - dreams of watching close friends dying in front of her, as she watched, helpless. She couldn't even close her eyes, or avert her sight from the horror. She was beginning to fear that these dreams might come true in the future, and she would be just as helpless in the real situation. Perhaps if they went to Esthar sometime, she could consult Dr. Odine about this.

A few raindrops plodded on the windshield of the car, distracting Rinoa. Soon, the squeaking of old windshield wipers prohibited all deep thought, and the rain grew heavy, accompanied with flashing lightning streaking across the sky and booming thunder. Eventually, shadows began to appear in the dark, and the road in the distance grew invisible through the blinding barrier of rain.

"Get ready for a rough ride!" Quistis yelled, bracing herself for impact with anything.

A hulking shadow, perhaps real, perhaps a figment of the imagination, grew in the distant road. Squall couldn't tell if this obstruction was real or not, but he _could_ tell that if they ran head-on into this monstrous obstacle, supposing it was real, they may not have survived, so he slammed his foot down on the brakes and shoved the steering wheel to the right to increase stopping speed.

Suddenly, the car came to a screeching stop, nearly flipping as it turned to the side. Blocking the road was an uncharacteristically large T-Rexaur, obviously slaughtered by someone or something. Blood still flowed from massive wounds on the beast, diluting with the water and eventually settling on the sides of the road, and a monolithic ice crystal could be seen jutting out of its side.

"Who could've done this?" Selphie inquired, slightly shocked by the carnage.

Rinoa, overtaken by a vague expression and obviously shaken, stood up and made as if to step out of the car.

"Hey, wait, what're you doing?" Zell asked. Rinoa didn't respond and simply moved out of the car and, nearly oblivious about the rain, stepped to the T-Rexaur and ran her hand along the ice crystal.

". . . I don't think this is para-magic," Rinoa remarked.

("Another sorceress?") Squall thought to himself.

"You think this is sorcery?" Quistis asked to Rinoa.

Rinoa turned around, quickly crafting an explanation for her suspicions. "I don't know how to explain it, but as a sorceress, whenever there's anything magical around me, I can sort of sense what kind of power it is. Para-magic as a whole has a different feel from this."

"Whoa, whoa, so there's another sorceress out there?" Zell asked typically.

("We still have a mission to do – an important one at that. We can't waste our time on some wild-goose chase, even if there really is a sorceress out there,") Squall thought.

"That doesn't make this sorceress our enemy," Squall replied. "In fact, most sorceresses live out their lives in hiding. This one was probably merely defending itself from the creatures, so this has nothing to do with us. Let's just move the T-Rexaur and get going to Balamb."

"But don't you wanna know more?" Zell responded.

"I'm kinda curious too, actually," Selphie remarked.

("I wanna know, too, but we can't just drop our mission for this. . .") Squall thought.

"We just need to move this thing for now. Maybe on the way back we'll look into it, but for now, we have a mission to think of," Quistis said. "Everyone have magic Junctioned to Strength?"

The group nodded, and set to work dragging the gargantuan beast off of the road by its tail.

"Phew! This thing _stinks_!" Selphie piped up. "And it's heavier than a Galbadian missile launcher!"

"Just a little farther now. . . There, that should do it," Quistis said. "Now, let's go!"

A large crash sounded in the distance, obviously not thunder, and the death cry of a T-Rexaur rang out.

"That _def_initely wasn't para-magic," Rinoa said suddenly.

"C'mon, we have to check this out!" Zell responded. "It can't have been too far away from here!"

"I agree with Zell on this one," Irvine remarked. "This sorceress could have her sights set on Balamb, or Garden."

("We don't have time for this!")

"Okay," Squall said, placing his hand upon his forehead, "but if we can't find anything right away, let's move on."

"Okay, lead on, Commander!" Selphie shouted.

". . . Who is it?" A frail female voice called in the distance. Through the rain, a vague silhouette of a young woman in a flowing dress appeared.

"Get ready to fight if we have to," Squall muttered, one hand on the hilt of his gunblade.

The woman materialized like a ghost from the veil of rain, dressed in a long, luminescent white gown of sorts, and though she was standing in the rain, she did not become wet. Her eyes, vague and innocent, told most of the group that this woman could be trusted.

". . . Who are you?" Squall asked, not letting down his guard.

"I am. . . The other half. That's what the voice says."

"What?" Quistis apprehensively interjected.

"The _hell_?" Zell shouted.

"Please don't hurt me," the woman implored.

"Why would we hurt you?" Selphie asked.

"Everyone does. I don't understand it. . . I sensed someone like me with you, though," she said, looking at Rinoa.

"You're the sorceress?" Rinoa asked.

"That's what they call me. I don't know why they chase me and shoot at me. . ."

"Don't worry," Quistis said, "There's no way we'd do that."

"Thank you."

"Wait a minute," Irvine said, "I know that the rest of you might not remember this, but when we were in the orphanage, Matron would tell us this story every night. . . To tell the truth, it's a little hazy for me too after using the GFs with all of you. Of course you're all familiar with the name of Hyne-"

"So what's your point? Get a _move _on!" Zell interrupted.

"Okay, okay. The story goes kinda like this. . . In the very beginning, when the world was created, the god Hyne battled all of the monsters. Eventually, as you can understand, he became tired. Well, that's when he created us humans to do the dirty work, then went to sleep. When he finally awakened, he was astounded to see how many humans there were, and the humans, without understanding what Hyne was, attacked him. Hyne retreated, and when he could no longer run, left behind half of his body as a decoy for the humans, and retreated with the other, more powerful half. People have never been able to find that second half, but I'm getting a feeling that our little sorceress is. . ."

"What?" Zell yelled. "I thought you said that Hyne was a _god_, not a god_dess_!"

"Well, a god isn't exactly human, so it could take on any form," Quistis replied.

The sorceress, who had been standing motionless for some time, spoke again. "I drifted for an eternity, unable to find any anchor, and suddenly, I was left here, alone."

("Time Compression?") Squall thought to himself.

"Are you talking about the Time Compression?" Quistis asked.

"I. . . I don't know," the sorceress replied. "I don't know anything."

"But you said you were the 'other half.' You definitely know something," Irvine said.

"I don't know what it means. . . There's just a voice in my head, and it says that. I don't know anything else about who I am or how I came to be here."

"How can you talk like us, then, if you don't know anything?" Selphie inquired.

"When I came here, I stayed with a family in Balamb, and they treated me with kindness, teaching me how to speak and read. One day, though, a monster snuck into town after nightfall, and attacked the family. As I saw the people being assaulted, I heard the voice. It created anger inside of me, and a power exploded from within, creating magic that destroyed the monster. After the monster was killed, the family turned on me fearfully and angrily, accusing me of being a sorceress. The voice spoke again to me, and commanded me to kill them. I-. . ." She stopped momentarily. "I killed them all, and several other people."

"The fire two months ago?" Zell asked. Two months before, a fire had exploded within the house next to Zell's, engulfing the family that lived there and several people who attempted to rescue them. Zell worried for days about it, but finally, upon visiting the town, discovered that Ma Dincht had been spared.

The sorceress continued. "I don't know what the voice is. Maybe it's someone else somehow communicating, or perhaps it's some memory that I can't recall. I only wish that it could stop."

("How can we be sure this isn't just a facade? But all the same, why would this sorceress want to kill us?")

Rinoa stepped toward the sorceress boldly, evidently unafraid of any assault.

"What are you doing?" Squall asked, drawing out his gunblade in case it proved necessary.

"Don't worry," Rinoa replied. She looked at the sorceress, and said, "We'll find out what your 'voice' is, and if there's anything that can be done about it, then we'll do it, okay?"

"You're. . . Going to take me with you?"

"Yeah, and maybe your voice will settle down staying with us. I don't know why it would, but I just have a feeling."

"Wait," Quistis interjected. "How can you be sure this is safe? Maybe this 'voice' is another sorceress like Ultimecia, possessing her."

"We can't know," Rinoa replied, "but we can't just leave her here to die defending herself from monsters!"

"I don't think she'd be having any trouble with these things," Zell said, turning to the slaughtered T-Rexaur.

"Everyone gets tired eventually, even a god," Rinoa responded. "She needs our help!"

Suddenly, the sorceress began to yell, eyes wide with fear. "N-No!" she shouted, shocking the group. "St-Stop. . ." The sorceress clutched her head in both hands, beginning to reel about, and then fell to the ground. The group gathered quickly around her, astounded.

"Whoa, okay, she _does_ need our help!" Zell said.

"Let's just get her out of the rain, first," Squall said.

("This reminds me of those times that Ellone sent us to Laguna's past. . . I wonder. . .") Squall thought as he picked up the sorceress and set her in the car before climbing in himself. The rest of the group followed suit, soaking the inside of the car as they stepped in and sat down.

As the car started up again, Selphie settled into a rare pensive mood. After a period of silence from the whole group, she looked at the girl and suggested, "That voice she was talking about. . . Do you suppose it's a GF that she can't control her Junction with? That would explain how she doesn't remember anything! And maybe the GF has some sort of power over her that makes her moods? Oh, and what if the GF knocked her out somehow, too?"

"That would take a GF far more powerful than any discovered yet, even Eden," Quistis replied. "Maybe we should give her to Dr. Odine to see what's wrong with her. For now, though, she'll have to stay with us for the mission. We'll just have to keep her safe, or if she wanted to, she could assist us in battle."

("That just makes one more person to protect. . .") thought Squall.

As the car ride continued, everyone gradually slipped into sleep, and Squall was left driving alone in the silence. The storm gradually ceased, giving way to afternoon sun. As suddenly as she had fallen unconscious, the sorceress awakened.

"Wh-What's happening?" she inquired, gathering her surroundings.

Squall looked back at her momentarily, and replied, "We're SeeDs from Balamb Garden. After we complete the mission that we're on presently, we're going to take you to Esthar, where Dr. Odine can figure out what your 'voice' is."

"SeeD. . . SeeD. . . Why does that sound so familiar?" the sorceress said quietly to herself. "And why do I feel so. . . angry when I hear it?"

("Angry? That sounds too much like Ultimecia. But she's gone. . . She passed her powers on to Matron fourteen years ago, so there's no chance that she could be alive and living in that sorceress. . . Right?")

"What is SeeD?" the sorceress asked.

"SeeD is a mercenary military organization founded, organized, and run by Balamb Garden. Basically, we're combat specialists," Squall replied, careful to avoid any mention of the mission to defeat the sorceress. "Although now is a time of relative peace, we're hired for recovery work in areas damaged during the recent war. Currently, though, we're on a mission to disarm a Galbadian rebel movement that has its hands on long-range missiles."

"SeeD. . ." the sorceress muttered to herself. Silence ensued yet again, making the darkness outside of the car even more oppressive than it previously was. Thankfully, however, lights were on inside of the vehicle.

"What's your name?" Squall asked curiously after a lengthy silence.

"I don't have a name."

("What a sad existence. . .")

Rinoa slowly awakened from her sleep, observing the young sorceress. She seemed to be only around the age of fourteen or fifteen, and had sleek, black hair much like Rinoa's. Her green eyes had a vague and empty look to them, which was understandable, considering that she had no memory. However, every so often, they would grow wide and panicky, just for a moment. Rinoa assumed that that was her reaction to the "voice." Her white dress reached to her ankles, which were covered by boots, and the sleeves awkwardly reached to her long, yet gaunt fingers.

Rinoa slowly sat up, and the sorceress's attention was turned to her.

". . . Say, do you know if your 'voice' is a GF Junctioned to you?" Rinoa inquired.

"A what?" the sorceress asked.

"A Guardian Force. They're beings that control magical powers, basically. If you allow one a place in your mind, particularly in the memory, it will offer you its powers in return. It can also converse telepathically with you, and sometimes, when a GF feels a strong emotion, the user feels it as well."

The sorceress looked down for a moment, taking in this information.

"How do I check if this _is_ one?"

"Well," Rinoa replied, "you have to mentally reach out to it and communicate with it."

". . . Okay."

("Hello?")

("_SeeD. . . You must kill them! Call me forth, now!_")

("What? . . . No, these people saved me!")

("_I shall not allow them to escape! Allow me to break away from the cage of your mind!_")

("Wh. . . What kind of anger is this I'm feeling?")

("_This is the pain that those accursed SeeDs put me through! Feel my anger, feel my hatred, and channel it into your magic!_")

("I-I can't fight with an anger that isn't my own!")

As Rinoa watched, she could see the sorceress's eyes grow wide with panic, and then anger mixed with fear of the very same anger.

("_You are the other half! You are the one destined to bring about the end of these humans! You are the end!_")

(". . . No! I won't believe it!")

("_You can not hide from who you are!_")

"Whatever it is, don't let it control you!" Rinoa said, alerting Squall, who looked back and saw the sorceress sitting, tense, with her eyes wide and unfocused.

("_Kill them!_")

"No!" the sorceress shouted out loud without realizing it.

("_I'll let you be presently. You can't run forever, though. . ._")

The voice subsided in the sorceress's mind, and she relaxed and breathed out a long, quivering sigh.

"What was it?" Rinoa asked.

"It. . . I guess it was a GF."

"What did it say to you?"

"Nothing. . . Nothing important," the sorceress said, afraid to reveal anything, in case she might anger or frighten the SeeDs with the GF's message.

"I'm glad you figured out what it was," Rinoa replied suspiciously, "but now you need to work on removing your Junction with it. You and the GF have to cooperate to break the bond forged when it was originally Junctioned to you."

"I don't think it'll work with me for that," the sorceress said. "It seems to be comfortable where it is."

"I wonder why. . ." Rinoa responded. "Maybe, since you're a sorceress, it wants to use your powers to accomplish something in the physical world? Did it say anything like that?"

"N-No," the sorceress replied quickly.

Suddenly, the car jolted as Squall brought it to an abrupt stop. The rest of the group yawned, stretched, and stepped out into evening Balamb, at the port. The sunset was fading, with streaks of golden light shining upon the calm ocean and a kaleidoscope of color filtering through dissipating storm clouds.

". . . I hate this place," the sorceress said almost coldly.

("That's right. . . This is where she was attacked and she was forced to reveal her powers as a sorceress,") Rinoa thought.

"It's okay," Rinoa said, "we won't be here for long."

". . . Look, we can't just sit here and stare at the sunset. Our train's leaving soon," Squall said.

"We can't just drag her around with us on our mission, though," Rinoa complained, motioning toward the sorceress. "She needs to decide something to do."

Squall put his hand to his forehead.

("I thought we already had a plan?")

"Okay," Squall said to the sorceress, "is it all right with you if we bring you along for our mission, so that we can get you to Esthar to find out what to do about the GF you have?"

The sorceress paused for a moment, thinking about the GF's demands to kill the SeeDs, and then decided that she could resist its anger for long enough to get to Esthar. All the same, she was hesitant because she didn't really understand her present situation.

". . . Okay," she replied, placing her trust in the group.

"We need seven tickets, then. . . 21,000 Gil in all. Split between the six of us, that'd be. . ."

"3,500 Gil each," Quistis interjected, frustrating Squall.

"Everyone set?" Squall asked.

The group nodded, and set off to the train station. When they arrived, the train conductor stopped the group.

"You've got seven SeeD tickets, but the girl there doesn't look like a SeeD to me," he said, pointing at the sorceress, who did indeed appear unfit for SeeD duty. "I'm sorry, but I can't let her into the SeeD cabin."

("Damn, I hate how stiff these guys can be,") Squall thought.

"She's a crucial part of our current mission, and we have to fill her in on our plan on the way to Timber, so she needs to go in the cabin, okay?" Squall said, weaving a vague lie to sway the conductor.

"I'm sorry, sir, but rules are rules."

Squall put his hand to his forehead. "Look, I'm the commander of Balamb Garden," he responded, showing an embellished badge that he had received after Ultimecia's fall. "Isn't that enough?"

The conductor sighed. "Okay, okay, go ahead. . ."

"That was completely unnecessary!" Selphie later said on the train as the group approached the SeeD cabin.

"_Next stop, Timber. . . I repeat, next stop, Timber. . ._"

The door opened to the SeeD cabin, revealing a luxurious room adorned with splendid golden-hued couches and bunk beds. Warm, soft, ambient light filled the air, almost inviting sleep.

"How luxurious. . ." the sorceress said, gazing at the room.

"You bet!" Zell replied, plopping his form onto a soft, expansive couch and bouncing about energetically. The sorceress turned to the beds, laid on the high bunk, and slept without a sound.

Selphie and Irvine stood together outside of the SeeD cabin, gazing out at the surroundings.

"You know, Sefie, I've never really thought about trains this way, but it's pretty neat." Irvine remarked, staring into the blur outside of the train.

"Yup, they're great!" Selphie replied, breaking into a singsong voice. "Train, train, take us away; take us away, far away. . ."

Squall sat silently on a couch opposite from Zell as Rinoa laid on the lower bunk of the beds and softly fell into the deep embrace of slumber.

"Hey, Squall!" Zell said quietly so as not to awaken the two resting sorceresses. Squall glanced over apathetically as Zell handed him a magazine.

"_Occult Fan V_. . ." Squall muttered. "'A Mudshark sighting has occurred near the shores of Balamb, with several eyewitnesses. A local man describes the creature: _I saw it, I swear I did! It had a huge fin, about that wide! _(See Figure VII) _I was just fishing off the shore, and up it comes, swimming through the ground, throwing up sand and dirt and stuff!_' . . . Do you really read this junk, Zell?"

"Nah, but it's pretty funny sometimes, you know?" Zell replied. Squall merely set the magazine aside and laid down wearily on the sofa.

Squall glanced over at Rinoa. How peacefully she slept. . . It brought back memories of standing over her hospital bed, and later, carrying her motionless, corpselike form down the seemingly never-ending train tracks. She looked so peaceful, and yet. . . So sad, just lying there.

Rinoa was not at all at peace, however. Imprisoned in the cage of her own mind, she stood in an alien landscape of ruin on a scale far wider than anything that she had ever seen. It was as if the apocalypse had come and passed, and only she remained, staring into a vibrant blood-red horizon. She immediately fell into worry, wondering what had happened to Squall. She began to run down the trail of ruin, seeing no variety in the surroundings; each sight was identical to the next.

Suddenly, not even in the blink of an eye, the other, younger sorceress stood in front of her, with her long, black hair flowing every which way, and her normally calm face poisoned and contorted with anger and hatred, focused on Rinoa. Her eyes, usually green, had turned a violent shade of red, as had her dress, and a necklace of disfigured, mutated skulls adorned her neck.

Rinoa, pale with shock, found that though she wanted to speak, her racing mind couldn't string two words together to form a thought. She slowly walked toward the sorceress, only to be pushed back by an invisible, magical force that shoved her to the ground.

The sorceress spoke, in a shrill, uncharacteristic voice. "Curse you! Curse you and curse SeeD! You are the source of all of my misery and wretchedness!"

"What are you talking about?" Rinoa inquired nervously. The sorceress responded by beginning to prepare for a powerful spell, a crimson aura forming about her.

"What are you doing!" Rinoa yelled, casting a weak Fire spell that distracted the apparent foe.

The sorceress's face contorted with disgust momentarily, but then broke into a wide, sardonic grin. "It isn't your time to die yet, anyway! You haven't suffered enough. You don't realize that two that you love are already gone, do you?"

"Two. . . Already gone?" Rinoa asked.

"You saw them with your own eyes," the sorceress said, her grin widening.

("My dreams? But. . . That doesn't mean anything, right?")

"You'll see," the sorceress said, softly chuckling, "that there is a fine line between dreams and reality. Two are gone, and twelve are yet to come."

"What?"

"It doesn't take much for that line between the abstract and concrete to be crossed. . ."

Suddenly, the sorceress's figure became distorted, twisting about, and then simply vanished, without a sign of her presence left.

Rinoa, not knowing what was happening, and her legs weakened from nervousness and fright, found that the only thing within her power to do was to kneel down upon the ground silently.

"_Next stop, Timber. . . I repeat, next stop, Timber. . ._"

Rinoa awakened, looking about. She saw Squall, laden with his all-too familiar black jacket and assortment of belts, glance at her momentarily and look away. That kind of apathy was to be expected from Squall, of course. . .

"Yo, Rinoa!" Zell said. "Wanna do something?"

"Um. . . Like what?" Rinoa replied.

"I dunno. Hey, do you play Triple Triad?"

"Yeah! How about a game or two?"

"Sounds good! I was getting pretty bored, you know?"

Rinoa and Zell plopped down on the floor, arranging cards in awkward-seeming patterns. Before too long, however, Zell suddenly froze in place, staring at the arrangement of red and blue cards.

"Whoa! You beat me!" Zell said, shocked.

"I learned from the best," Rinoa said, slyly smiling at Squall, who deliberately ignored her. "Now, I need that Tonberry King card you have."

"Oh, man. . ."

The sorceress in the top bunk tossed about slightly, then slowly sat up in her bed.

"How far are we?" she asked.

"Well, it's been four hours," Zell said, "so we'll probably be there in another three hours."

"Okay. . . Thank you." The sorceress replied.

As Rinoa spied upon the sorceress, the image of her wrath in the dream flashed before her eyes, and, for a moment, she thought that she could actually see that anger in the sorceress's face. However, despite her worries, the honest, yet empty expression on the sorceress's face reminded her that a dream was only a dream, and that in no way could the wanderings of the mind change reality.

I guess if you read this far, you're sticking with this and enjoying it at least a bit (or else you just have nothing better to do,) but I still hope that you enjoyed your reading! Please rest your eyes from reading momentarily to offer a review, be it critical, positive, or angry, and happy trails to each and every one of you!


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